Hearts and Home
by DutchLady
Summary: Tish's rehearsal dinner is crashed by a unexpected guest. And the Doctor discovers that he's been lied to... about the Time War.
1. Close Encounter of the Fourth Kind

_Welcome to my new story! This is going to be a work in progress, but I loved the idea that much I figured that I should start sharing. Updates will be irregular._

_This is a sequel to my story "Her name was Martha Jones". You don't have to read it to understand this story but it will help. For those of you, who don't want to read a M-rated story it was basically a PWP one-shot originally about the Ninth Doctor having a one-night stand with Martha and after that errasing her memory of it. This story will elaborate further to that, and some other stuff as well...._

_The overall plot, that I will NOT reveal, was originally the plot of the last sequel to "Who Doctor's the Doctor" and "Past Troubles are Today's Nightmares". And spoookily enough, it became a sequel to "Her Name was Martha Jones", which was supposed to remain a one-shot. _

_I hope you enjoy it, and please leave reviews. I love them._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, but maybe I if I ask nicely?_

**Home is where the hearts are**

As the Doctor's right cheek stung from the slap that he had received from a very angry, and diminutive woman, he couldn't help but wonder about the irony of the situation. Time Lords were supposed to have perfect timing, they were known for it in fact. Well, with the way that they perceived time it was only logical really. So he couldn't for the life of him fathom why his timing was so rotten.

As he watched her retreating back, he felt a new presence in his mind. It wasn't comfortable like the TARDIS always was, but it was strangely familiar.

This presence invaded everything he was; he stopped being him. Clutching his head in agony, he fell to his knees.

He let out a harsh cry, "Martha!"

Martha turned and looked at him. The anger that her eyes had just displayed disappeared, and changed into weariness and concern.

The last thing the Doctor saw was Martha Jones walking towards him, and then darkness surrounded him.

Earlier that day

The Doctor landed the TARDIS neatly on a street corner opposite Martha Jones' house. He checked his reflection in the almost dark surface of the scanner screen. He straightened his tie and pushed his fingers through his hair, trying for one last time to tame it; which was impossible. In fact, his action made it even more unruly.

He made his way towards the doors of the TARDIS; he noticed that his hearts were beating faster than normal. He suddenly realised that he was nervous. Nervous! Him! He was never nervous. Well, hardly ever. Domesticity made him nervous; no, Martha Jones made him nervous.

Every day, while she travelled with him, he was reminded of that one night. That night in her apartment when he had only just regenerated into his Ninth self, the night that had rocked his world, the night that he had made love to her.

And he had to keep that a secret. He knew that he should do the right thing and tell her, and give her back the memory, but he knew that she would hate him and would never speak to him again. He couldn't risk that, their friendship was too important for him.

And this weekend was going to be tough, how was he supposed to keep his mouth shut about it? Never bring up the subject, he resolved. Martha's sister Tish was getting married and he had been invited. At first he hadn't wanted to go, but Tish had talked him round. Why couldn't he say no to the Jones sisters?

The Doctor left his ship and locked the door behind him. From the corner of his eye he saw Martha coming through the front door of her house and make her way towards him. At the same time they both threw their arms around each other.

Martha giggled when the Doctor lifted her off of her feet.

He smiled at her when he put her back down. "Hello, Doctor Jones."

"Hello, Mister Smith," Martha replied. "So, are you ready for a whole weekend of doing the domestic thing?"

Theatrically, the Doctor rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Yes, I promised I would."

"Yes, " Martha said. "You promised."

Martha took his hand and pulled him towards her house.

"I've made the guest bedroom ready for you, just in case," Martha said. "Or do you want to stay in the TARDIS?"

"No, "the Doctor assured her. "The guest room is fine."

He followed her into the house, and hung his coat on the stand in the corner of the hallway.

"Tea?" Martha yelled at him from the kitchen.

"Please!" the Doctor yelled back.

He accidently took a wrong turn and ended up in the living room. It was a spacious room, the walls were white and big terrace doors let in a lot of light.

"I still love the light in here!" the Doctor said.

Martha came in through a door that led into the kitchen. "Sorry, you said?"

"I still love the light in here," he repeated.

"It's why I fell in love with this house when I bought it, remember?" Martha said. "I just needed the space."

The Doctor nodded in understanding. Six months ago, Jack had called him and had asked that he came to Cardiff. It concerned Martha. He had come immediately, and Jack had told him that Tom had died in a car accident a week earlier. Since then, Martha had stopped functioning. She didn't go to work, although UNIT understood and didn't make a problem of it; she didn't sleep well, and she hardly ate. Francine and Tish were deeply concerned, but were unable to get through to her. So they were hoping that the Doctor could help.

The Doctor had gone to Martha and he had stayed on Earth for four months. In that time he and Martha had become even closer than ever. He had held her when she cried, and had made her cups of tea, and had made her eat. But the most important thing that he did was listen, listen to her in all hours of the day and night.

After four months she had been doing a lot better. Martha had left UNIT and was now working at the Royal Hope, and was sleeping and eating properly again.

The last thing that they did together before he left was looking for a house for her. She didn't want to life in the house she and Tom had lived in.

He had been reluctant to leave, but Martha had made him. The Doctor had left her in her new life with a heavy heart. He wanted to stay with her, or wanted her to come with him; he wasn't exactly sure which one he preferred.

The Doctor's thoughts were interrupted when Martha waved in front of his face.

"Are you that scared of spending the weekend here for Tish's wedding?" she asked with a cheeky smile.

"No…" the Doctor said rather unconvincingly. He would die if Martha figured out the real reason.

Martha smiled and laid her hand on his arm. "It'll be fine," she assured him and went back to the kitchen to finish making the tea.

The Doctor wandered over to the terrace doors and opened them. It was a warm August afternoon and the warm air surrounded him. He tugged on his tie, loosening it a bit, and sat down on the low stone wall that surrounded the terrace.

Martha appeared again and handed him a mug of tea. She sat down next to him.

"Anything exciting happened?" she asked.

"No, not really," the Doctor said. "I went to a few places... saved a couple of planets... You know how it goes…"

Martha glanced at him, while sipping her tea. She could tell that there was something wrong. But she knew him; he wouldn't talk to her if she pressed him to hard, so she changed the subject.

"Want a tour of the house? You haven't seen it finished," she asked. The Doctor had been there when she had bought it, but had left soon after that on her insistence. She had done most of the work herself. Her father and her brother had helped with the heavy stuff, like moving in the furniture. She had found that the work had been very therapeutic, and when she was finished, she had sat down on her new couch with a sense of completeness that she had done it all herself. This was _her_ house.

The Doctor cheered up visibly, and drank up his tea. "I would love a tour," he said.

Martha finished her tea as well and led him into the house. Over the next hour she showed him everything, down to the basement. And the Doctor was very impressed with her that she had done it all herself.

"It's only two o'clock," Martha said, "and we only have to be at my Mum's at seven. What do you want to do in the mean time?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Don't mind," he said. "Would you mind awfully if I move the TRADIS in your backyard? She doesn't stand out there on the street corner, but I would feel better if she's a bit closer."

Martha didn't object, and the Doctor walked around the house. A few minutes later, the TARDIS appeared in her backyard. Martha walked to the blue box, and knocked on the door.

The Doctor opened it. "Yes, what do you want?" he asked in a stern voice, but his eyes laughed.

Martha decided to play along. She clasped her hands in front of her stomach and hoped from foot to foot. She said in small child's voice, "Sir, I saw your blue box. What's inside it? Can I see? Please, please, please?" She stretched the last 'please' out until it came out rather whiny.

"Why?" the Doctor asked, his voice sounding like an old man.

"Because I think she's very pretty," Martha stated in a child's like voice.

A small smile appeared on the Doctor's face. "That has earned you the right to have a peek."

He stepped out of her way. "Come in and say hello to her," he said in his normal voice.

Martha stepped inside the ship. The hum that greeted her intensified. "Hello, girl," she said. Martha walked to the console and laid her hand on it. A warm and tingly feeling was emitted from it, which made Martha smile even more.

"She's missed you," the Doctor whispered in her ear. "Just as much as I did."

"I missed the both of you as well," Martha whispered. She turned and slipped her arms around the Doctor's waist. The Doctor wasted no time and slipped his own around her, and held her close.

They stood there for a few moments, and then Martha pulled out of the embrace.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"What for?" the Doctor asked her bemused.

"For being there, six months ago," she said.

Before she could change her mind, Martha placed her hands on the Doctor's shoulders and gently kissed his cheek.

Martha smiled when the Doctor blushed. The Doctor copied Martha and placed his own hands on Martha's shoulders and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"What are friends for? And it was the least I could do," he said.

"Honestly…? That you stayed here… for me… I didn't think that you would that…" Martha admitted. She looked down to the floor in embarrassment.

The Doctor gently took her head in his hands and angled her head so he could look at her properly. "Martha, you think so little of me?" he asked.

Martha made to shake her head, trying to say that that was not what she meant.

"I know you don't mean that," the Doctor assured her. "I just want you to know that I will always help you if you need me."

Martha nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry for implying…"

The Doctor interrupted her. "You've got nothing to apologize for."

"Promise me one thing?" Martha asked him. "Promise me that you understand that I will help you if _you_ need _me_."

"Martha Jones, I promise," the Doctor stated. He decided it was time to lighten the mood and said, "So, have you decided what you want to do before we have to go do the domestic thing?"

"Watch a film?" Martha suggested.

"Alright, which one?" the Doctor answered.

Martha shrugged. "Let's see what's in my collection and then decide?"

The Doctor agreed, and a half an hour later the two of them were lounging on her sofa watching 'Close encounters of the third kind'. The Doctor had confessed that he'd never seen it, so the choice had been easy.

When they had watched about half of the film, Martha mused, "I've seen aliens, I know aliens –one is sitting on my sofa, drinking tea-, I've been to distant planets and all sorts, so does that mean that that is a 'close encounter of the fourth kind'?"

The Doctor glanced at her, a genuine puzzled look on his face, "What are you on about?"

"Oh… nothing," Martha said sweetly.

Martha got up and brought the dirty mugs to kitchen. She rinsed them and was back just in time to see the car chase to the mountain where the climax of the film was going to be.

When the film finished, the Doctor sighed. "Not bad," he said. "But communication with a laser show and musical notes is so two centuries ago."

Martha laughed, but let the comment slide. "Do you want to shower first? Or can I go first?"

"No, you go first; I'm probably going to be faster than you anyway. Do you mind if I grab something to eat? I'm starving."

Martha shook her head. "No, grab what you want. But don't eat too much; we still have the rehearsal dinner in a few hours."

"Yes, Mum," the Doctor said sarcastically.

Martha laughed out loud again, and left to take her shower.

_TBC_


	2. The rehearsal dinner

Five minutes to seven, the Doctor and Martha sauntered up to Martha's parents' house. It wasn't a long walk; Martha lived relatively close-by.

The Doctor was greeted warmly by the Jones family; all of them were pleased to see him; especially Tish. The eldest Jones didn't talk about the Year often, but when she did she always let on that she and the Doctor had experienced a few things that only she and the Time Lord knew about. But both never mentioned it, it was as if it was solely something that only concerned them.

The Doctor picked Tish up and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hello, Tish," he said quietly. "Congratulations."

Tish's feet touched the ground again. She stood on her toes as she reached up and pulled his head down, so she could return the gesture.

"Thank you, Doctor," she said with a warm smile.

Tish grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him with her into the living room. "I want you to meet my fiancé," she stated.

Obediently, the Doctor followed her.

Tish introduced him to her fiancé, Mark Stephenson and his parents. The three people were a bit bemused by his name, but were too polite to question it.

Suddenly, Francine Jones appeared at the Doctors side, and pulled him away.

"Hello Doctor," she said.

"Hello, Francine," he answered. Francine looked a bit apprehensive. "What's up?" the Doctor asked her, he hoped that his tone would suggest that there wasn't anything to be concerned about.

"Can I ask you a favour?" Francine asked. On the Doctor's nod, she continued,"would you mind driving tonight? Clive isn't feeling well, and if Leo drives, nobody will come out if fear for their lives. This is Tish and Mark's night so they shouldn't be driving and with these shoes I have on I can't drive…"

The Doctor listened to Francine rambling and decided to silence her. "It won't be a problem, Francine. I have a driver's licence that is accepted on several planets and I've even owned a car or two."

Francine looked very relieved and left to let Clive know that the Doctor would be driving. Martha appeared at his side.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"I've become the designated driver," he answered with a bright smile. His smile faltered when he saw Martha's frown. "What?" he said.

"Why would Mum ask you and not me?" she answered.

"I'm sure it means nothing. She probably wanted me to drive, so you can have a drink or two," the Doctor said in a reassuring tone.

Martha gave him a quizzical look, but didn't comment further.

"Why won't your mother let Leo drive? Something about people fearing for their lives, she said…" the Doctor asked Martha.

"Leo isn't the most… safe driver in the world," Martha answered diplomatically. "None of us get in a car with him if we can avoid it."

"Why?" the Doctor asked, now genuinely intrigued.

"Let's just say, that anything he _can_ do wrong, he _will _do wrong," Martha answered.

Before she could elaborate further, she was pulled away by her mother with the request if she would mind checking on Clive. Martha walked away with an apologetic smile, so the Doctor turned his attention on the very full living room. Tish was talking to her fiancé Mark and his parents. Martha and Francine had disappeared to see to Clive, whom the Doctor hadn't seen yet. Leo was busy entertaining his five year old daughter with a doll.

The Doctor looked at the Jones family with a sense of pride, they had survived the Year. They were a family of fighters, and he felt humble to be part of that in a very small way. During the Year he had seen Francine and Tish the most, Clive had spend most of the time in the bowels of the Valiant; the Doctor had learned that Martha and Tish had inherited their strength from their mother. When he had met Francine the Doctor had been scared of her very powerful slap, now he was scared of her strength.

He was pulled from his musings when he felt tugging at his trousers. He glanced down to see Leo's five year old smiling up at him, clutching her doll in her arms.

The Doctor hunched down, so that they were almost eye to eye. "Hello," he said. "Your name is Keisha, isn't it?"

The little girl's smile vanished, and she looked at him in utter bewilderment. "How do you that?" she whispered in awe.

For a split second the Doctor thought about saying that he could read minds, but he didn't want to freak the girl out, so he settled for, "I know your daddy, and your grandparents and I know your aunt Martha very well."

"Are you here for the wedding?" Keisha asked him.

"Yes I am," he answered. "Your aunt Tish invited me."

Keisha seemed to be pleased with that information, and skipped away from him. Francine appeared beside him again and handed him a key ring.

"Car keys," she said, and disappeared again, leaving the Doctor standing there with the keys.

He stood up properly, feeling like he'd been hit with a car. Everybody in this family just couldn't stand still. Tish had vanished, and Martha was now talking to Mark, Leo had vanished as well and Clive had appeared from nowhere and was now talking to Mark's parents. Was he so unobservant these days? He did have a bit of a headache for the last few days, but he was able to explain that. A few days ago he had done battle with a nasty alien race hell bent on conquering their neighbouring planet by turning the population nuts with a psychosis inducing drug by depositing it in the planets upper atmosphere. The drug came down in rain form, and the Doctor had stood in the middle of a flood. His mind was protected, he had learned everything in his Academy years, but he had suffered a few after effects and the TARDIS had been able to give pain medication afterwards, but the headache should be gone now. After the dinner he would have to go back to the TARDIS and check.

The Doctor had no idea where the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner exactly was, so he followed Mark's parents. The restaurant was small and intimate, and the two families and a few friends who were already there were soon seated in a room with dark mahogany tables and chairs, and maroon coloured table linens and napkins.

The Doctor sighed in relief when he discovered that he could sit at the same table as the Jones Family. Even though he did make friends very easily, he was happy for the fact that he could do the 'domestic thing' with familiar faces around him.

After everyone had finished their dinner and the Jones family had started mingling with the guests, the Doctor sat on a chair in the corner, as he observed the crowed room. Martha and Tish had vanished to the bathroom –Martha probably had to ease Tish's mind a little; the eldest Jones had been very nervous all day- and the other Jones family members had disappeared as well, leaving him alone at the table.

He rubbed his temple, that headache still hadn't gone; in fact it was getting worse. Too bad that aspirin was lethal for him.

He sighed, closed his eyes and continued to rub his temples when a shadow appeared beside him, and a tall man fell down in the chair next to him.

"Are you alright, Doc?" Captain Jack Harkness asked.

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked into a few concerned ones. "Yeah, fine," the Doctor lied. "Got a bit of a headache."

Jack glanced at him with a look which the Doctor took for disbelief.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" the Doctor asked the immortal man.

"Tish invited me," Jack answered.

"You're on your own?"

"Yeah, my team is down to two, and since Gwen and Ianto don't know Tish or the other Jones', I figured that I make this one a solo mission."

The Doctor nodded his understanding. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and rubbed his temples again.

"Are you sure that it is just a small headache?" Jack asked.

The Doctor nodded. "I had a bad experience with a telepathic race recently, and I can't seem to shake this headache. I'll be fine though. I'll take a painkiller from the TARDIS when I get back to her."

"I can run over to the bar and ask for some aspirin for you? " Jack offered and already made to stand up and go to the bartender.

The Doctor stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. "Don't bother," he assured him. "Aspirin doesn't work for me, and if it does I won't be alive to tell the tale that the headache is gone."

On Jack's bemused look, he added, "Time Lords are allergic to most kind if human medicine. I can only take what the TARDIS provides for me."

Jack nodded his understanding. "Have you met Tish' fiancé?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, he seems nice enough."

Jack continued to nod sagely. "Do you think Tish will let me borrow him for a while…?"

The Doctor didn't bother with a response and looked around the room, being very careful to avoid Jack's teasing glare.

The two old men, but only in age, sat side by side, in silence. Anybody who didn't know them would think that they were bored out of their minds. They were however simply enjoying each other's company.

After about half an hour, in which the two men had hardly said a word to each other, the Doctor and Jack were joined by Martha, Tish and Mark. Seconds after that Jack was flirting with Mark, who seemed completely bemused by Tish' friends; and the Doctor was talking quietly to Martha and Tish.

After another two hours, it was now eleven o'clock; Jack had managed to get the bartender to leave the bottles on the table, causing the Doctor's headache to get progressively worse, since it was Jack who kept topping up his glass and accusing him to be a spoilsport every time the Doctor protested.

It was almost midnight when the Doctor decided to call it quits. His head felt like it was about to split open and his brain was going to dribble onto the table.

And maybe Jack sensed it, because it was then that Jack asked the question that was going to start a chain reaction so large, even the Doctor had no way of stopping it.

"What is the best shag you _ever _had?" the immortal man asked.

TBC


	3. Truth

For a few moments the table went silent.

Martha started to giggle, and leaned over to whisper in Tish' ear, who started to giggle as well. Mark and the Doctor just stared at Jack, who had a completely innocent look in his eyes.

"Well, come on! Out with it," Jack demanded. "I haven't got all night."

"You've got forever, Jack," the Doctor said.

Jack just smirked, and leaned back in his chair; his fingers laced behind his head.

It was Mark who shook his head first. "No way," he said. "There is no way on this God's green earth that I'm going to answer that question."

"Here, here!" the Doctor, Martha and Tish said simultaneously.

The trio looked at each other and laughed. It had come out whole-heartily by all three of them.

"I'll go first…" Jack offered, with a sly smile.

The Doctor groaned and briefly banged his head on the table; which only caused his headache to worsen even more.

"You're not going to let this go… Are you?" he said.

Jack shook his head. The Doctor looked at Martha, Tish and Mark. And Martha made the decision to shrug, and the deal had been made.

Martha however did point at Jack and said, "You go first!"

"I already said I would," Jack answered. "But first, I'm going to get a few more drinks for us."

He got up and left.

Tish and Mark turned to each other. "What are we going to do?"

"Tell the truth," the Doctor said. "Jack will know if you lie. It's something he just knows." The Doctor shrugged apologetically.

Tish got a mischievous glint in her eye as she looked at the Doctor.

"What was _your_ best shag?" she asked.

The Doctor suddenly discovered that he blushed. "It isn't my turn yet," he muttered.

Martha giggled. "You're not shy, are you?"

"No!" the Doctor insisted. "I don't get shy."

"Then why are you blushing?" Martha teased.

The Doctor was saved, for now, by Jack, who returned with two bottles. He placed them on the table. "These two should be enough, hopefully."

Jack settled back into his chair, grabbed one of the bottles, refilled five glasses and leaned back again.

"I was first, right?"

"We had already established that," Mark said with a sigh, realising that there was no way out of this.

Martha, Tish and the Doctor had now realised fully that Mark was right, that this was something that could not be stopped anymore.

The Doctor could see the wheels in their heads turning. They could probably see his turning as well. The Doctor just hoped that Jack wouldn't see through his lie, because he couldn't tell the truth.

The Doctor turned to Jack with an expecting smile, and glimpsed from the corner of his eye that Martha, Tish and Mark do the same.

Jack downed his glass and grabbed the bottle again. He refilled his glass and settled in his chair.

"Okay, now this was in my Time Agents days," he started. "Paris, France, 3126. His name was Francois De Mange."

"Right," Martha said, sounding intrigued. "I figured you would say Ianto."

Jack looked at her. "Ianto is a great shag, but we're talking about the best. And Francois was the best."

"Why?" Tish asked.

Her table members looked at her in surprise. "What? He has to have a reason for it. You can't just name a name and be done with it."

"She has a point Jack," the Doctor said. "Why Francois?"

"I don't really know," Jack said. "It's just a feeling. For those few hours he made me feel alive. It was like every single bone in my body was on fire. For half an hour I couldn't move, Hell, Francois couldn't move either."

Jack fell silent, seemingly lost in the memory. After a few moments, he shook his head, sighed deeply and turned to Mark. "So? Mark…?"

Mark visually gulped and sat up a bit straighter. He looked as if he suddenly realised that he truly couldn't get out of this.

"You can't say Tish," Jack added in a hurry.

Mark visually gulped again and said, "Well, I can't oblige there, because Tish is the best shag I ever had. So, there."

"Me too," Tish."

"What?" the Doctor piped up. "_You_ are the best shag you ever had?" He clamped his hand over his mouth in shock as the table dissolved in laughter.

"No," Tish managed to say after hiccupping herself back to a state that resembled normal. "I mean, Mark is the best shag I ever had."

"That's cheating, you know?" Jack said.

"No, it is not," Tish said in stern voice, and glared at Jack. "It's the day before my wedding, what I say goes."

Jack smiled at her, leaned across the table and gave Tish a quick peck on the cheek. He sat back down in his chair and turned to Martha, and raised his eyebrows.

Martha sighed. "I don't remember…" she muttered.

"What!" Tish exclaimed. "Has it been that long?" She raised her eyebrows seductively.

Martha blushed slightly and ducked her head. "Yes, it has been a while, and though the sex with Tom was always great, I know that there was one time that it was… beautiful and… brilliant and… You know?

Tish put her elbows on the table, and leaned forward. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Martha shrugged. "I don't really remember it, it's a bit hazy. I know it was after Adeola's funeral, and I think I was drunk. All I remember is a leather jacket and sparkling blue eyes."

She looked around the table, and settled her gaze on the Doctor. "Your turn," she said with a small smile.

The Doctor coughed. "Oh, I don't know."

Jack laughed. "Come on, Doc. I bet it was someone famous?"

The Doctor's mind spun with potential people. The truth was there was no way they could ever check if he was telling the truth, so a famous person. Well, there was only one name he could say. He had made love to her, he wouldn't be lying about that, but was it the best… no. The best was sitting next to him.

He was amazed that Martha hazily remembered their 'encounter'. But if all she did remember was a leather jacket and blue eyes, and he didn't resemble his Ninth incarnation in any way, he was completely save.

The Doctor realised that all eyes were on him. "Fine!" he muttered. "It was Reinette."

"Who's Reinette?" Tish asked. "Is she famous?"

"I thought you would have said Rose," Martha said.

"I never slept with Rose," the Doctor admitted, looking up and noting Martha's raised eyebrows. "I didn't," he insisted. "Believe me, Rose wanted to, and if I had given any indication that I wanted it too… well, let's just say that I'm quite positive that I wouldn't have saved all those planets and people. I never felt comfortable going that last step with Rose."

"And you did with 'Reinette'?" Tish asked, sounding intrigued. "Who is she, by the way?"

"She's very famous," the Doctor teased her. "You just know her as Madame de Pompadour."

Tish and Mark gasped in shock, Martha smiled and Jack… well, Jack had listened very carefully, and didn't buy a word the Doctor was saying. Oh, he believed the not-having-sex-with-Rose thing, but the best shag he ever had was with Madame de Pompadour… no. Jack didn't believe that for a second.

Another thing that Jack found odd was Martha's description of _her_ best shag. Jack looked at the Doctor… the Time Lord did once wore a leather jacket and had blue eyes… NO! No way!

Suddenly it all made sense to Jack, but what to do… Jack smiled.

Jack leaned back in his chair, and laced his fingers behind his head. "Sorry Doc, not buying a word you're saying."

Startled the Doctor looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Madame de Pompadour, come on! You can do better than that, can't you? But just too clarify, the best shag you ever had was with Madame de Pompadour… was that you, or the previous you… Because Martha description of her best shag made me remember him…"

The Doctor's eyes went wide when it dawned on him, where Jack was going with this.

"What do mean, Jack," Martha asked.

Jack turned to Martha. "You know about regeneration, right? Well, he" Jack pointed to the Doctor, "he used to wear a leather jacket and had blue eyes."

"Shut up, Jack," the Doctor growled.

But Jack was on a role, and there was no way of stopping him. He knew, just knew that the Ninth Doctor had slept with Martha, and now he only had to make the Doctor admit it.

"Is Jack right, Doctor?" Martha asked the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, in my previous incarnation I wore a leather jacket and had blue eyes."

Martha's eyes grew wide as she figured out what Jack was trying to say. "Doctor…?" she started, but lacked the courage to continue the question.

The Doctor looked at Jack, hoping that he would magically develop superpowers so he could turn Jack to dust. Jack just smiled back at him like the cat that swallowed the canary.

Martha cleared her throat. "Doctor… was it you?"

The Doctor turned to Martha, noting that Jack was now grinning madly, and Tish and Mark were literally holding their breaths.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes… it was me

TBC


	4. and Consequences

Martha stared at the Doctor, to shocked to be able to say anything; she couldn't even think at the moment.

That man, that man she remembered hazily, as if in a dream… that man that had made love to her… that had been the Doctor?

She couldn't believe it. Why didn't she remember it?

"Why don't I remember it?" Martha asked through clenched teeth. She was feeling an anger rise in her.

The Doctor looked at her, and said quietly, "Because I blocked your memory of it."

Martha rose to her feet in anger. "You what?" she exclaimed.

The Doctor rose as well, and faced her. "I blocked your memory," he repeated.

"Why?"

The Doctor sighed, and brushed his hand across his face. He pressed his fingers against his temples and started rubbing. His headache was getting progressively worse and the alcohol he had consumed didn't help. He wished that he could have this conversation with a clear head…

He gave his temples a last good rub, and focused on Martha, who was glaring at him. The anger clearly visible in her eyes.

"I don't know," the Doctor answered her.

"You don't know…" Martha scoffed. "You do not know…"

Even the Doctor with his horrible people skills new that Martha's tone meant trouble. He raised his hands in a pleading gesture.

"Martha, can we do this another time? It's Tish wedding tomorrow," he pleaded.

But Martha couldn't be put off. "Don't you dare bring Tish into this. And she doesn't mind, do you Tish?"

Martha turned to her sister and dared her to contradict her.

Tish raised her hands in defence. "Don't bring me into this. This is Jack's fault."

"Oh, yeah," Jack said in defensive tones. "This is my fault. I only made a deduction."

"Yes," the Doctor said. "And look what that brought us."

"No," Martha said. "This isn't Jack's fault. This isn't _my_ fault. This is _your_ fault, Doctor."

The Doctor turned to Martha, ready to face her wrath.

"Yes, you're right. This is my fault," the Doctor said. "I know everything is my fault."

The fact that Martha and the Doctor had rose to their feet and Martha was clearly angry with the Doctor hadn't escaped Martha's and Mark's families, and they all came to see what the fuss was about.

"Yes," Martha said. "it is your fault. But why?"

"Honestly," the Doctor said. "Because I was scared. That is the simple truth, I was scared."

Martha laughed. "Yeah, I'm buying that; you were scared. No, I'll tell you what the truth is. You slept with me and you were so repulsed with that fact, that you figured it was best to wipe my memory of it."

"Repulsed?" the Doctor said. "Martha, no, I could never feel that."

"What," Francine cut in. "Martha, you slept with him."

"Mum, stay out of this," Martha said, not taking her eyes of the Doctor. She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "So, what was it then?" she asked the Doctor.

The Doctor sat back down. "Okay, Martha would you please sit down and let me explain?"

He could tell that Martha was reluctant, but she did comply. She sat down, took a comfortable position and crossed her arms. She looked at the Doctor expectantly. "Well, explain," she said mockingly.

The Doctor turned to Jack. "Happy now?"

Jack had the grace to look a bit uncomfortable, he clearly had figured out that he had acted rash.

The Doctor looked at Martha. "That night, I had regenerated into my Ninth body only a week before. I didn't want to go anywhere, I didn't want to see anybody… I just wanted to… die."

Martha looked at him, and even though she didn't want to, she did believe him when he had said that. "You wanted to die?"

"The war had just ended by my hand, everything and everybody I cared about was gone. I wanted to die," the Doctor said in simple tones. "That is the simple truth."

"But then I walked into that pub, and saw you sitting there, and we started to talk…" The Doctor once again sighed. "And I liked you, not in a I-want-to-travel-the-universe-with-you way, but I could have a simple conversation… my last conversation…"

Martha's anger rose again. "What? You thought, why not add some sex to my last hours… go out on a high…"

"No, you invited _me_ into _your_ apartment, remember?" the Doctor said sarcastically.

"No, because you erased my memory of it," Martha countered.

"I _blocked_ your memory, different thing," the Doctor said.

"Semantics," Martha muttered.

"I could…" the Doctor started.

"What," Martha asked, a bit intrigued; she hated herself for feeling that way.

"… give you back the memory…?" the Doctor said. He glanced at her with hope.

"I don't know," Martha said.

"Well, I can, so if you want to, just say the word."

Martha nodded. She wasn't sure if she could ever ask him.

"Still doesn't explain why," she said.

"I don't know, Martha," the Doctor implored her. "I was scared."

That got Martha riled again. "Scared…" she muttered.

"Yes," the Doctor said. "That's my only excuse."

"Well, that is not good enough," Martha said. She got to her feet again and walked away.

Immediately, the Doctor got to his feet as well, and went after her. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

Martha, shocked by his move, lashed out with a strength she didn't know she possessed. She slapped him.

The Doctor cradled his cheek. "Martha, please, can we talk about this?"

"I _never_ want to see you again," she said. Her body became rigid, her fist clasped at her side. There was a look of anger in her eyes, that was so intense that the Doctor felt a sudden fear. "I can't believe that you would do that to me. After everything that we went through, everything that we shared, you could betray me like this? You could… _rape_… me, like this?" Martha took a few steps away from him, disgust in her eyes. "I thought I knew you…"

Tears started to form in the Doctor's eyes, he desperately wanted her to understand. He couldn't let her walk away from him like this. He reached out to her, but out of nowhere his headache intensified.

There was a presence, it invaded him, he stopped being him. It was as if the presence took his mind out of his body, rifled through his memories, all nine-hundred years worth of them, and put them back in his body. It was shear agony, because this presence wasn't gentle. It skipped the more pleasant memories and went straight for the bad ones; the horrible ones.

The Doctor's knees buckled with the onslaught.

On his knees on the ground, he managed to say one single word: "Martha…"

He barely noticed Martha turn back to him to give him a piece of her mind again. He blacked out.

TBC

**AN. Well I hope you enjoyed that. It wasn't easy to write, and there are a few things that I will have to deal with in future chapters. Okay, we are now heading towards the real main-plot, because this was just the appeticer.**

**Please be kind and leave a review, I life of them. **


	5. Deductions Medical and Personal

**Here's a new chapter. This is a filler before we get to the real main-plot, which I will not reveal just now. You'll just have to be patient. There is only one other person than me who knows... and he won't tell. I hope. Nah, he won't. **

**Enjoy!**

Martha slowly made her way back to the Doctor.

The Time Lord was lying on his side on the floor, curled into a ball, his arms covering his head.

"Doctor?" Martha said, her voice a combination of worry and a sense of wariness and a touch of anger.

She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't fake it, but the way that he had collapsed was bordering on weird. Martha hated herself for it, but a little part of her wanted to walk away and just leave him. But the overriding part –the doctor part of her- knew that there was something wrong, and that the Doctor needed her help.

Jack had already crouched down beside the Doctor and was shaking his shoulder gently. "Doctor, can you hear me?" he said.

The Doctor didn't respond, he didn't move a single muscle.

Jack shook him a bit harder. "Doctor!"

Jack looked up at Martha. "He's completely unresponsive."

Martha sighed, she pushed all of her personal issues to the back of her mind and crouched down on the Doctor's other side, opposite Jack. She pushed two finger in his neck, searching and finding his pulse points.

"Heart beats are fine, and regular," Martha stated.

Carefully she pried his arms away from his head, and gave a gasp when she daw the Doctor's face. He clearly was in agony, his entire face was contorted in pain.

"What's wrong with him?" Martha asked Jack.

"No idea," Jack said. "But I think that whatever is happening is happening on a mental level."

"On a mental level?" Martha asked him. "What does that mean?"

"Well, the Doctor is telepathic, and he said that about a week ago he was on a planet with telepathic beings, maybe this is an after effect of that?" Jack said, not sounding sure.

"You mean, that they're still inside his mind?"

Jack shrugged. "Maybe? He did say that he was having a headache, and he was clutching his head, and rubbing his temples a lot." Jack looked at the Doctor again. He still hadn't moved.

Martha pressed her fingers in the Doctor's neck again, she wasn't even sure why she did it. She had already established that physically there was nothing wrong with him.

"Could it be that there is a link between that telepathic race and what he did to me? Guilt?" Martha ventured.

Jack looked at her. "I doubt it."

"Sure?" Martha said. "He was feeling guilty… Had it coming, by the way."

Jack sighed. "Martha, you didn't know him in his previous body. He was Mr. Guilt back then."

Martha gave a snort. "Yeah, right."

"Yes, Martha," Jack said, a touch of anger in his voice. "Talk to him first, and then make up your mind."

"Jack! He had sex with me and then took the memory. That is practically rape."

"No, Martha. It isn't! Rape would be… if he had actually raped you, which he didn't. You two were consenting adults. Let him explain first. Because accusing him of rape goes too far!" Jack said to her, sounding increasingly cross.

Martha looked at Jack, she nodded. In the heat of anger, she had said things she didn't mean. She was still cross at the Doctor, but Jack had a point. She had to hear his explanation.

Martha shook her head, trying to get her mind back into the problem at hand; an unconscious Doctor.

"Okay," Martha said business like. "What do we know… he's been in close contact with a telepathic race recently. He's been complaining about headaches that he can't seem to shift, and maybe the alcohol that he's had tonight made it worse. Perhaps the combination of the two –I don't know- somehow 'opened' his mind and the telepathic race took control…?"

Jack shrugged. "It sounds plausible, but it is not much to go on."

Martha thought for a second. "Should we call UNIT…?"

"Why do you want to call UNIT?" Tish asked.

Jack and Martha started. They looked around, and found that the entire Jones and Stephenson family had formed a circle around the three of them. All of their faces were pictures of concern. They both, Martha and Jack, had been so preoccupied with the Doctor that they hadn't even noticed.

"UNIT has been dealing with the Doctor for decades, they might know something about him that we don't," Martha said.

"Good point," Jack muttered. "Let me make a phone call." With those words he rose to his feet, pulled his mobile from his pocket and moved away a few feet.

Martha could hear him muttering, and refocused on the Doctor. He was still curled into a ball, his face in agony. It was as if there was something in his head, at least that was what it looked like to Martha. Pushing any resentment she felt towards him away any further down, Martha tenderly reached out and brushed his fringe from his forehead. Now, that she thought about it with a bit of clear mind, she hated herself for acting so rash. He had asked her to calm down and listen to him, but what had she done? She had lashed out without provocation and she had even accused him of rape. When had she become so close minded about the Doctor? She had always known that he was mentally way more evolved than a human, but she never would have expected that he had taken on of her memories. God, this was so confusing…

"… No, _you_ don't understand," Jack's angry voice suddenly came. "I just want to talk to Colonel Mace, it concerns the Doctor. I don't what the Doctor moved to UNIT headquarters, because it won't make a difference. Now get Mace on the phone."

There was a silence, and Jack started pacing up and down, his mobile firmly pressed to his ear. About a minute later he said, "Mace, can you get the files on the Doctor out, please?" Jack asked, clearly talking to Colonel Mace now. There was another silence on Jack's part, and quietly Jack started to ask Mace questions about the Doctor's physiology. Clearly Jack was _no__t_ getting the answers he was hoping for, because Jack ended the call with a sarcastic, "Thanks."

Jack walked back to Martha and the Doctor, who was still curled up on the floor, still clearly in agony.

"Nothing," the immortal man said. "The only thing they have on record is that there was a Doctor who was unconscious for a while after his –what they assumed in retrospect- was a regeneration; they later discovered that the Doctor was exiled to Earth, and the regeneration was part of his sentence. Almost the same for the next Doctor, but both of them were fine once they woke up, although they still needed a couple of hours after regaining consciousness before they'd settled down. Nothing about a telepathic race which can cause him to go unconscious and can cause him pain on this level."

Martha sighed, and rubbed her face. She looked at the people that surrounded her and the two men, they still weren't talking, which Martha greatly appreciated. It was like all those people realised that they could do nothing to help.

"How about we take him to the TARDIS?" Martha suggested. "He is linked to her, telepathically, I mean. Maybe she can help in ways we can't."

"Good point," Jack said. "Do you think it will be safe to move him?"

Martha once again –it being completely unnecessary- checked the Doctor's heart beats; both hearts were still beating strong.

"Jack, help me for a second, will you?" Martha asked.

"What do you want to do?" Jack asked in return, and crouched down beside the Doctor.

"I want to get him lying on his back, so I can check a bit better," Martha answered.

Between them, Martha and Jack managed to straighten the Doctor's legs and roll him onto his back. If they were hurting him, they had no idea. His face was still a picture of agony.

"It's so weird," Martha said. "I've seen him in pain, once I caused it." On Jack's bemused look she told him, "it was my first real trip with him. We ran into a living sun, he looked into it. Think about, a living sun, and the Doctor looked at it, and absorbed a little piece of it. He told me to freeze it out of him, so I put him in stasis chamber, turned it to minus two hundred and turned it on. It was Hell for him. Which was nothing compared to the time he turned himself human by using the Chameleon Arch. That was worse on him… and me, had nightmares about it for weeks. If I think about it know, I can still hear him scream…Basically, I've seen him in pain, but never like this…"

With the Doctor lying flat on his back, Martha was able to conduct a bit more basic triage, and she found that in essence there was nothing wrong with him. It was just that he wasn't alone inside his mind, and she couldn't help him there.

"I'm not an expert on Time Lord biology, but I think it is safe to move him," Martha said. "But I can't be certain."

"I think it is best that we get him to the TARDIS as fast as possible," Jack started. "I think she is the only one who can h…"

Jack's sentence was cut short, because there was a very distinct sound in the air. A wheezing, groaning sound.

"… help him?" Martha finished Jack's sentence.

TBC

**AN: alright, the next chapter -which I'm writing now- will reveal the real plot. Promise! Thank you Marcus S. Lazarus for advice.**

**Please leave a review, I love them. **


	6. The Party Crasher

**Sorry about the delay in updates. Work, a muse who flew away, and beautiful weather got in the way of writing. **

**Please enjoy**

Martha looked at Jack and a smile appeared on her face.

"It's the TARDIS, isn't it?" she said.

Jack nodded, his smile matching Martha's.

"I never knew the TARDIS could do that," Martha said. "You know, fly without the Doctor."

"Well, she is one of a kind," Jack said. "She truly is, and I think that even between TARDISes there are differences. The Doctor is always going on about the fact that she is special, so the fact that she can fly on her own isn't that surprising to me anyway."

"And there is the bond between her and the Doctor to take into account," Martha added. "I talked to Sarah Jane recently and she mentioned that the TARDIS came to the Doctor when he was cut off from her. Maybe the TARDIS felt that there was something wrong with him, and came here on her own accord?"

"It makes sense," Jack said. "Now may I suggest that we stop talking about the fact _how_ the TARDIS got here, and just be grateful that she _is_, and get him onboard?"

"Very well, Captain," Martha said. "Tish, would you mind going outside and see where she is parked? I just want to know if we can carry the Doctor there like this, or if we have to get a stretcher of some sort."

Tish nodded and left the restaurant. Martha looked around in confusion; they were still in the restaurant, she had forgotten that. It was so weird…

Two minutes later, Tish returned, while Martha and Jack had given the Doctor a final check-up. To Martha it seemed that the Doctor was doing a little better. He was clearly still in pain, but the complete look of agony on his face was gone.

"The TARDIS isn't there," Tish said.

"What! But I heard her land!" Martha exclaimed.

"I went round the corner and everything, but there is no blue box outside," Tish said, with a desperate tone in her voice.

Jack got to his feet. "I'll go check myself. No offence, Tish."

After about another minute Jack returned, "Tish's right, there is no TARDIS outside."

"How is this possible?" Martha said, utterly bewildered. "I heard her land!"

Suddenly there was a breeze as the door was opened.

A woman came into the restaurant and with a resolute stride crossed the room and stood still a few feet away from the Doctor's body and Martha sitting on her knees beside him.

The woman was tall and had a slender build. Her curly brown hair fell past her shoulders, framing a heart shaped face, with sparkling blue eyes. She was wearing a simple ankle length dark blue dress, that left her shoulders bare; on her feet were a pair of sandals. She looked like as if she'd just had a pleasant day at the beach.

Martha looked up at her from her crouched position by the Doctor. There was something about the woman, that Martha found a bit unnerving. She had an air of authority about her, that Martha had only seen in the Doctor… and a certain other Time Lord.

Jack was the first to confront the woman.

"Who are you?" he demanded to know.

"It is not important for you to know who I am," she answered, the same air of authority that Martha had recognized in her body language, the human doctor now sensed in her voice as well. "Just know that I can help the Doctor."

Jack came over, and stood between the woman and the Doctor and Martha; shielding them both from her stare.

"I'll ask one more time, who are you?" Jack said.

The woman looked at Jack, a cold stare in her eyes. Jack stared back. There was something about her that Jack couldn't identify, but that was strangely familiar as well. He had never seen her before in his life, all two-thousand years of them; but looking into her eyes, it was as if she had been a constant companion during those same two-thousand years. It amazed him and it scared him. It had always been his believe that there was only person in the universe that truly knew him; the Doctor. But this strange woman gazed into his eyes and it was as if she read him as if he were an open book.

"I am important to the Doctor," the woman answered.

"That still doesn't answer my question," Jack said, getting exasperated with the woman. How hard could it be to answer a simple question?

"You are right, it doesn't answer your question," the woman said with a small smile on her lips. "The Doctor will be able to identify me, but right now he needs help. Help that only I can provide him."

Deciding that he wasn't going to get an answer about her identity, Jack decided to skip that and settle on the next issue; the fact that she claimed she could help the Doctor.

"How are you going to help him?" Jack asked.

The woman sighed; it seemed to Martha that the woman was growing impatience, and was tired of the questions. Martha decided to keep quiet and just observe. She once again looked at the Doctor, who was still lying on his back next to her; and to Martha, he looked even less in pain, as if the appearance of the woman had done something to literarily ease his mind.

The woman took a step forward, but she was stopped by Jack, who seemed to be physically blocking her, keeping her away from the Doctor.

The woman seemed to realise that Jack wasn't going to let her pass. "I'm going to try and make telepathic contact with him," she said in precise tones.

Jack looked at her incredulously, "You're what?"

"It should be fairly easy," the woman said in a reassuring tone. "I'm telepathic myself, the Doctor is as well… I'm confident I'll be able to help him."

"And why should we do that?" Jack asked her. "Why should I let you anywhere near him? There is nobody hear that can vouch for the fact that you can help him? Why should I trust you? I think those are valid questions."

"They are," the woman said. "And I can't give you an answer, except that I'm giving you my word. I promise that what I'm going to do will not hurt the Doctor, hurting him is something that I could never do."

The sincerity in her voice didn't convince Jack. "Sorry lady, I'm not buying a word you're saying."

"Well, I am, Jack," Martha cut in. "There is something about the Doctor that makes you trust him, I get the same vibe from her. I think she can help the Doctor."

"Martha," Jack exclaimed. "Do you know what you're saying? She's a complete stranger, how can you possibly know if we can trust her?"

"I just do, Jack," Martha said. "I can't explain it."

Martha peered around Jack's legs and looked the woman in the eye. "Can you help the Doctor?" Martha asked her.

The woman nodded. "Yes, I can."

"Then help him," Martha said.

The woman nodded and walked around Jack. She sat down by the Doctor's head, and gently took his head in her hands. She pressed her middle- and index finger to his temples and closed her eyes. Then her eyes snapped open again, when she heard a sound that startled her.

The woman and Martha looked up and saw Jack point his gun towards the woman, aimed directly at her head.

"If I see any indication that you are hurting the Doctor even more, I will not hesitate to use this," Jack said, through gritted teeth. He didn't trust the woman one bit, but he valued Martha's opinion as well.

The woman nodded in understanding, and once again closed her eyes.

TBC

**AN, I'm pretty sure that you know who the woman is... If you don't... the Doctor will reveal her identity in the next chapter.**

**Please leave a review with your opinion, I love them.**


	7. Romanadvoratrelundar

**This chapter was very difficult to write, and I'm still not completely happy with it. I hope that you enjoy it none the less. **

**Some of you have speculated who the mysterious woman is: Compassion or the TARDIS... Nope, all wrong. Here is her true identity:**

Darkness surrounded him. Opening or closing his eyes did nothing to change that. At some point he wasn't even sure if he was indeed opening and closing his eyes since he didn't feel them; no body parts at all actually.

The agony that had overpowered him was gone, he didn't know why. But there was dull ache right behind his eyes.

Oh, he could feel his eyes.

He opened his eyes, but darkness still surrounded him; he kept them open none the less, because it made him feel better.

He concentrated on sound, there wasn't any. Maybe his hearing hadn't returned to him yet, or maybe there wasn't anything to hear; he wasn't sure.

Even his other senses told him nothing. His sense of touch couldn't help him, because he still couldn't arms. Thankfully the feeling had returned to his shoulders, but there still wasn't any sound.

To alleviate the boredom he was feeling, because with him that took no time at all, he started raking his brain.

What had happened?

He remembered arguing with Martha. Had she really accused him of rape? Thinking about it a bit more he decided that she had. Once he had figured out what had happened and how he was going to get out of this nothingness, he would sit down and talk to her.

He remembered being psychically overwhelmed by… something. It couldn't be that species he had encountered a week ago, he would be able to block them. No, it had to be something else. Possible suspects passed his mind, but none could do this to him.

The only thing that could possibly overwhelm him in this way were the Time Lords… but that was impossible as well. He could scratch them of his list too.

Maybe the Daleks did this? Maybe the Sontarans, the Cybermen perhaps? The Daleks seemed the most likely, the Doctor thought glumly. He perked up a little as he could now feel his elbows.

The Doctor decided to let the 'who' go for a moment –he would figure that out later-, he just had to find a way to get out of here first.

But did he want to leave, wherever he was now? It was peaceful here, no one bothered him, expected things from him, looked at him to save everything once again. He was in his Tenth life, and the years weighed down on him with every passing year; companions, he was forced to say goodbye to; Daleks, who just wouldn't stay dead once and for all; the Master, his best friend in childhood, bitter enemies now that they were adults. Maybe this was the way that his life would end? He wasn't in any pain, which was good. He would be save here, wherever here was. He wouldn't feel the pain of lose anymore, he wouldn't feel anything…

But would he want that for the rest of his existence? He was a man who thrived on learning new things, meeting new species across time and space, showing his companions the beauty that the universe provided. No, he couldn't stay here and lead a non-existence.

Suddenly, in front of him, a light appeared. At first it was so bright that it hurt his eyes, but it settled to a bright blue that was easier to look at. The light grew bigger as it drew nearer to him.

When the blue light was close to him the Doctor found himself face to face with a woman, someone he had never seen before, but felt strangely familiar.

"Who are you?" he asked her, his voice sounding strange in his ears.

The woman smiled at him. "You have to wake up, Doctor," she said.

It was a strange sensation, and the Doctor had no idea why he said it, but it was just the feeling that he could trust this woman. "I don't know how," he said.

The woman continued to smile at him. "I do."

She reached out and placed her right hand on his cheek. "Hang on, my friend."

There was a bright white light and the darkness consumed him again.

The Doctor blinked his way into consciousness and let out a groan. Above him, he could make out two faces; the dark coloured face and eyes of Martha Jones and the light face and blue eyes of the same woman that had saved him from his own mind.

"Doctor, are you alright?" Martha asked in soothing tones, which the Doctor found somewhat comforting. Apparently Martha had pushed away any resentment she felt, and her medical training was overruling her feelings towards him.

The Doctor sat up with another heartfelt groan and crunched his eyes shut. "Yeah, got a killer headache though…"

The Doctor felt her hand on his shoulder. "We'll get you something for that from the TARDIS medical bay."

The Doctor nodded and opened his eyes, Martha's concerned dark eyes looked back at him.

"Doctor, what happened?" Martha asked.

"I'm not really sure," the Doctor said. "Something overwhelmed me… mentally. I was powerless to stop it."

"What could it be?" Martha asked. "It would have to be powerful, right?"

The Doctor closed his eyes again and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Yeah…" he muttered. "What happened here, I mean, what did it look like from your end?"

Martha shrugged. "Not much happened. You collapsed out of the blue, and you were clearly in pain, and we didn't know how to help you. But suddenly, she showed up and helped you," Martha pointed to the woman who was crouched down on the other side of the Doctor.

The Doctor led out a yelp, and tried to stand up. His legs wouldn't cooperate, so the Doctor, still on his bum, used his legs to propel himself backwards.

"No, no, no, no…" the Doctor muttered.

The woman went towards him. "Doctor, it is me."

"No, no, no… it's not possible," the Doctor continued to mutter.

"It is possible, Doctor. It is me," the woman implored him.

The Doctor continued to mutter 'no' and move away from her, and stare into space. "I'm hallucinating… yes, that is it… hallucinating… because Romana is dead… she burned along with the other survivors… she burned along with Gallifrey…"

"Doctor, it is me, Romana…" the woman desperately said to him.

The Doctor let himself fall to the ground, and curled himself in a little ball. "No, you're not real… leave me alone…"

The woman went over to the Doctor, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Doctor, please… it is me… truly it is…"

The Doctor threw her hand off of him.

Martha and Jack had seen enough and moved forward as well.

Jack placed his hand on her arm and pulled her away. Martha moved to the Doctor and quietly started to talk to him.

"Doctor? Jack has pulled her away. Please, look at me?" Martha asked him.

The Doctor uncurled himself and looked at her. "She is real…?" the Doctor asked her. "I'm not hallucinating? You can see her?"

Martha nodded.

The Doctor looked passed Martha and sought out… Romana's eyes. Was it really her?

"You recognized me even before I had introduced myself, Doctor," Romana said. "you've never seen me in this incarnation, but you knew it was me."

"Romana…?" the Doctor whispered.

Romana nodded and sat down on her knees in front of him. "Hello, Doctor," she whispered.

The Doctor let out a cry and pulled her towards him, causing Romana to almost straddle his lap. Romana wrapped her slender arms around the trembling form of the Doctor.

After several minutes, the Doctor pulled away slightly and looked her in the eye. "How are you here?"

"Let me tell you," Romana said.

**I'm having a vacation at the moment, so expect regular updates over the next two weeks**


	8. Reunion

**Yay, another chapter finished. I got bitten with the writing bug... not that that is a bad thing of course. Just to clarify before you start reading this, Romana is in her Fourth incarnation. Enjoy!**

The Doctor gazed up into Romana's eyes. Eyes that were so familiar and yet so strange. He knew her so well in her First and Second incarnation. In her Third incarnation her harder personality had often clashed with his own, the more gentle Eighth. But as President of Gallifrey, Romana had had no choice but to become harder in order to deal with the horror of the Time War.

But as the Doctor looked at Romana's Fourth incarnation, he once again saw the Romana he knew. The free spirit that she had been in her Second incarnation, but still with that slightly prim and proper personality as well. In her Second incarnation Romana never ceased to challenge him. The Doctor had soon discovered that Romana liked to overrule him, because she thought she was cleverer then him –which she was-, but she learned off of him as well. Because the Doctor had been travelling the universe for centuries, he had vastly more experience in dealing with the unknown, and who really cared about the fact that she could fly his TARDIS better than him.

The Doctor snapped from his thoughts and looked at Romana properly.

"Is it really you?" he asked.

Romana nodded.

"I'm not dreaming or hallucinating?" the Doctor asked just to be sure.

Romana shook her head. "You're not dreaming, you're wide awake actually. We're Time Lords, we don't need much sleep, so how can we dream? And we have so much control over our minds that hallucinating is something we just don't do."

The Doctor gazed at her and started to laugh. That sounded so much like Romana. The laughter died in his throat…

"How…?" he asked her.

Before Romana could answer him, Tish's voice rang out.

"What is going on here, and who is she, Doctor? And I want some answers, I'm getting married tomorrow and my patience and nerves are being stretched to the limit."

To the Doctor's ears, Tish had never sounded so cross.

The Doctor got his feet and walked over to her. "Tish, I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble…"

Behind him, Martha, Romana and Jack snorted. The Doctor turned to them and glared.

"Well, you do have a habit of attraction trouble, Doctor," Romana said diplomatically, but with mirth in her eyes.

"Yes, I attract it, but I never go looking for it, because it always finds me, and I'm always sorry when I cause it," the Doctor said.

The Doctor turned back to Tish and took both her hands in his. "Tish, I'm really sorry that I'm causing so much trouble on the night before your wedding." He turned around again to face the assembled crowd. "Everybody, I'd like you to meet Lady President of Gallifrey, Romanavordtrelundar. You may call her Romana. Romana and I travelled together; six bodies back for me, two for Romana. Romana, these are all friends of mine. Next to you is Doctor Martha Jones, Martha travelled with me, and is solely responsible for the fact that this planet no longer under the Master's rule."

Romana shook Martha's hand and –to Martha's surprise- bowed to her. "You defeated the Master…? Impressive…"

"Thank you," Martha whispered.

"The man next to you, Romana, is Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor continued.

Romana shook Jack's hand, but quickly pulled her hand back. "You are wrong," she said warily.

Jack took a step away from her. "I know," he said. "I'm fixed point in time and space."

Romana gave a sharp intake of breath, but otherwise didn't comment. Romana turned back towards the Doctor. "And the rest of these people?"

Quickly the Doctor introduced Romana to the rest of the Jones family, and to Tish's fiancé and his family.

"Now that the introductions are over, you still haven't answered my question, Romana… how are you here?"

"I came here by TARDIS," Romana answered him.

"That's not what I meant," the Doctor said acidly.

Romana didn't flinch from his tone of voice. "I know, but I think that we should have this conversation in a place where we can have a little more privacy."

The Doctor nodded and turned to Martha. "Can we go to your house, Martha?"

"I don't mind it, but there will be not much room," Martha said.

"It is big enough for you, me and Romana," the Doctor said.

"No, Doctor," Romana said. "This is between you and me. These people should stay out of this."

"Look lady," Jack said. "The Doctor is our friend, so eventually we will find out what is going on here. Now, Martha and I will certainly be tagging along, so may I suggest that we move this party to Francine's house, so we can all hear this at once, and the Doctor doesn't have to go over it a second time."

"Now listen here…" Romana started.

But the Doctor cut in, "He's right, Romana. I care a lot about Martha and Jack, they deserve to be let in on this. We wrecked Tish's rehearsal dinner, so we have to explain it all to her. Mark is not going to let Tish listen to this on her own, not to mention Martha's parents and brother, so we might as well all go…"

Romana looked at the Doctor pleadingly, but she soon realised that the Doctor wouldn't budge on this subject, so reluctantly she agreed.

Everybody grabbed their belongings, and under heavy scrutiny and bewilderment from the restaurant staff, the large group of humans and the two Time Lords left the restaurant.

They all drove back in the same arrangement as they had coming to the restaurant, only difference was that Romana was going in her own TARDIS, which she landed next to the Doctor's in Martha's garden. The Doctor and her then walked to Francine's house.

Romana had urged him one last time to discuss this between them, but the Doctor had insisted that his friends should be included.

The Doctor glanced around the very full living room. People were sitting on the sofa and chairs, six people were sitting on the dining room chairs, and Jack had remained standing and was now leaning against a wall, looking like a security guard. His wrongness put Romana on edge, the Doctor could tell. Romana herself was pacing up and down the living room, she clearly was not happy with the fact that the Doctor wanted to discuss this in front of his friends, but the Doctor had promised to himself that he would no longer keep secrets from them, especially Martha.

The Doctor settled his gaze on the human doctor. Martha was clearly still mad at him; she avoided looking at him, and had not said a single word to him since Romana had mysteriously shown up. The Doctor could understand why she was still mad at him, he had blocked her memories and in Martha's mind he had crossed an invisible line of things she would not tolerate. The Doctor made a promise to himself there and then that he would talk to Martha, properly, before he would leave Earth.

But first…

"Romana…?" the Doctor asked her.

Romana looked into his eyes. She sighed deeply. "What do you want to know?" Romana asked him.

"Well…" the Doctor started, faking indifference, but then said sarcastically, "How about everything? How are you here? Let's start there."

"There is no need to get sarcastic, Doctor," Romana said.

"I thought you were dead, I thought I killed you when I destroyed Gallifrey. I think I've earned the right to be a little sarcastic…" the Doctor snapped at her.

The Doctor could tell Romana wanted to snap back, but held her tongue. Once they had gotten to know each other a lot better, they had been able to read each other's mood fairly well, and they both knew how the other person would react to a situation.

Romana knew that the Doctor's head was spinning in a hundred different directions; coming up with possible reasons of her presence, and dismissing them immediately again.

Because… the only plausible reason was… insane… and completely impossible.

Romana nodded. "Of course, you've got the right to be sarcastic." Romana sighed on last time. "It's a long story, so I think I should start at the beginning.

"It was about four days before the Time War ended…"

**Nice cliffhanger huh? Next chapter is being written now; it's title: The Final Days of the Last Great Time War.  
See you soon.  
Please leave review if you ejoyed this chapter, I'll bake you cookies. Eat those at your own risk. **


	9. The Last Days of the Last Great Time War

**Hello, my dear readers. I've had this idea in my head for such a long time, but only now I'm actually confindent enough in my abilities as a writer that I feel that I can tackle this idea. Thanks are out to Marcus S. Lazarus who beta'd this chapter for me and gave me advice on a few subjects. **

**Without further ado; I give you the REAL reason for this story. Hold on, because here we go. Enjoy!**

"It was about four days before the Time War ended, when I fully realised what Lord President Rassilon and some members of the High Council were planning to do," Romana started. "But by then it was already too late."

"What were they planning?" the Doctor asked.

Romana waved his question away. "I will get to that in a moment, I promise."

The Doctor nodded. "Romana, I need answers," he said, a desperate tone in his voice.

Romana walked over to him, and took his hands in her own. "I understand Doctor, but this can get a little complicated, so bear with me."

The Doctor nodded again and Romana resumed pacing the room.

"A year into the Time War, the Daleks opened the Gates of Elysium. They thought, or hoped perhaps, that the Nightmare Child would help them in their fight against us. The Daleks were wrong, and the Nightmare Child destroyed Davros' command ship, killing Davros. The Nightmare Child not only destroyed Davros, but several thousand Dalek saucers as well, destroying almost twenty million Daleks."

"I know," the Doctor whispered. "I was there…"

"It took a lot of Time Lords to calculate and figure out how to close the Gates, a lot of lives were lost," Romana continued.

"Why did you close it?" Martha asked in hushed tones. She wasn't sure if her question was intrusive, but she wanted to understand better.

"Why?" Romana asked incredulously.

Martha gasped in shock of Romana's tone of voice. "I mean no disrespect, but if the… Nightmare Child is capable of destroying so many Dalek saucers, why would you want to close it down?"

"Because the Time Lords had no way of knowing if the Nightmare Child could be trusted to not kill them as well," Jack said.

"Precisely," Romana said.

Martha flushed a little in embarrassment of not making such a basic deduction. Martha sucked up her embarrassment and looked Romana in the eye, daring the Time… Lady –if that was her proper title, Martha wasn't sure- to make a snipe about Martha being a mere human.

The Doctor smiled, he knew that Romana was better than that, and knew as well that Romana liked the human race just about as much as he did; only difference being that Romana got exasperated faster when they did something… primitive.

"Romana…" the Doctor said.

Romana looked at him and nodded. "It took a hundred TARDISes, and the power of all of the regenerations left to their Time Lords to close the Gates, all were destroyed in the explosion. An hour later, I was called back to Gallifrey; I had decided to go to the Gates myself, to aid in whatever way I could. The High Council had convened during my absence, and without my presence and counter arguments, they had decided that I was unfit for office. My trip to the Gates was the final prove they needed, figuring that the battlegrounds were not my place as President."

"They deposed you?" Martha exclaimed.

"Well, not immediately," Romana said. "They told me that since the resurrection of the Master had worked…"

Romana fell silent as almost the entire Jones Family paled and drew in breaths. She looked at the Doctor, searching for answers.

"The Master fled from the War after the Daleks took control of the Cruciform, turned himself human using a Chameleon Arch and went to the end of the universe. There Martha, Jack and I encountered him, while he was still human," the Doctor told her. "My presence and some odd triggers caused that he started to shrug of the perception filter on his fob watch. The Master was reborn, stole my TARDIS, and took over the Earth. We –the entire Jones Family, Jack and myself- were his prisoner for a year, only Martha had managed to escape and made sure that I was able to pull of my plan. Martha beat him."

The Doctor didn't have to complete the story for Romana to understand what they had gone through, she knew the Master well enough.

Romana turned to Martha once again. "Like I said before; impressive. Not many humans can go up against the Master, alone if I may add, and beat him at his own game."

"May I ask you something?" Francine asked carefully.

Romana turned to her. "Of course."

"You are… like the Doctor… a Time… Lord?" Francine said, uncertain whether or not she had been rude.

Romana smiled. "Yes, though the proper title is Time Lady." Romana fell silent and waited until Francine had worked up the courage to ask the question she really wanted to ask.

"Are you the same as…_ him_?" Francine asked through clenched teeth.

"Him…?" Romana asked, slightly confused.

"She means the Master," the Doctor said gently.

Romana nodded in understanding. She knew that the year they had spend under the Master's rule must have horrible. She could fully understand that Francine was now not able to say the Master's name.

"The Doctor, the Master and I are all Gallifreyans," Romana started carefully. "All three of us went through the Academy –albeit at different times- and are now Time Lords."

"But that is where the resemblance stops," the Doctor continued. "Romana and I both chose to become the persons that we are now, because we wanted to learn more about the universe, to see it. The Master just wants to control it."

Francine nodded in understanding.

A silence fell over the crowded room, no one really wanted to break the silence, or dared do it.

It was the Doctor who broke the silence. "Please continue, Romana?"

Romana cleared her throat. "Okay, the Council allowed me to stay on as President, until such a time that they would be able to resurrect Rassilon."

Martha coughed. "Excuse me… resurrect Rassilon? And who is Rassilon"

"Rassilon was one of the greatest Time Lords who ever lived. We consider him the Founder of the Time Lord civilization as we know it today. The resurrection of the Master was an experiment, to see if it could even be done, once they were successful, resurrecting Rassilon should be fairly easy, though it would take a while."

"I assume they used the biodata for both Rassilon and the Master to resurrect them?" the Doctor stated.

"Yes," Romana confirmed. On the confused looks from the others in the room, she added, "The biodata's of all Time Lords are stored into the Matrix; a sort of supercomputer, that houses all of our knowledge, and can only be accessed by Council members and the President."

The group seemed to process that information, so Romana continued.

"After I was told of the plan, I could see it had merit. Gallifrey should be led into battle by someone who had the publics' confidence. Not that I didn't have it, but Rassilon… well, Rassilon _is _Rassilon. The plan made sense. So I agreed to remain in office until Rassilon had returned to us, so as to not upset the public by the fact there was no longer a president. After another year, the Council was successful and I stepped down, and Rassilon took office."

"Wow," Martha said.

But Romana didn't acknowledge Martha's mutter and continued. "The war dragged on, and it turned into Hell. Millions of people in the centre of the War died and came back to life almost daily. Planets were destroyed and recreated and destroyed again. And when Arcadia fell… I knew that we had lost. I was on my way to report to Lord President, when I was pulled into a small room by Council member Tralan. She told me that President Rassilon and his Council were planning something to end the War. I told her that that was a good thing, but her silence spoke volumes to me. She told me Rassilon's true intensions."

Romana fell silent, seeming unable to continue. The Doctor rose to his feet and stood still in front of his friend.

Romana sighed and looked the Doctor in the eye. "Rassilon and the Council had come up with a plan. They had build a bomb and had wired it into the Eye of Harmony. But the bomb wasn't an ordinary kind of bomb. When it would go off, it would not only destroy Gallifrey and Kasterborous… it would have destroyed everything, it would have destroyed Time itself. Nothing in the universe would have ever been created. But, they would have survived. All those who would be on Gallifrey would live on as creatures of energy. Our Lord President… Rassilon sanctioned a plan that would ensure that they would live forever, the price being the universe."

The Doctor shook his head. "Why was I never told about this?"

"Doctor, the War was over four days later," Romana implored him. "When I found out, I had only just found out that you were just about to procure the Moment. Doctor, there wasn't any time. If you didn't succeed, the President's plan would have…"

"But I did succeed," the Doctor interrupted her. "I got the Moment, and wired it into the heart of the TARDIS, that took me the better part of four days. I had planned to return to Gallifrey to get the President's consent to turn the key in the lock, but then the Cruciform fell, and the Dalek saucers came into Gallifrey's atmosphere… I didn't have a choice… I turned the key… the Moment tapped into the power of the Vortex... and Gallifrey with all the people and my family… and friends… and the Dalek fleet… everything was destroyed."

Romana sighed, and then she did something that utterly scared the Doctor, because he had never seen her cry, tears started to form in Romana's eyes.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked fearfully.

Romana composed herself, despite the tears that were still running down her cheeks. She knew that what she was going to say next, would destroy the Doctor.

"Doctor... if Gallifrey was destroyed, with all of the people... how can I be here now?"

The Doctor looked at her with fear in his eyes.

"I…" he started.

"Doctor, Gallifrey wasn't destroyed. It is still there, at the coordinates that you've entered into the TARDIS computer so many times."

The Doctor backed away. Tears in his eyes.

Romana sighed again, desperately trying to recompose herself. She tried to explain it again. "Lord Rassilon knew that you had the Moment. If you failed, he would set off his own bomb, which was his back-up plan. But you succeeded in saving Gallifrey, because the Moment had been altered by Council members who didn't agree with your plan, so that they could get rid of you. When you wired it into the TARDIS it automatically downloaded a program into the TARDIS computer core. When you activated it, that program took over. The Moment destroyed all of our enemies, but it saved Gallifrey. Your TARDIS was programmed to fling itself into the Time Vortex, where it would shut down if the force of the shift had not caused it to explode. You wouldn't have noticed this, because the force would be so great that it would have knocked you unconscious almost immediately. The program inside the Moment also changed the memory banks. To the TARDIS and then in extension to you, because you are linked to one another, it would have seemed that the explosion would have caused the destruction of Gallifrey, where in reality Gallifrey was pushed into another second, a little pocket of time where we could 'hide'. The people on Gallifrey were told that you had sacrificed your life to end the War, and were told that a War like this could never happen again, because we were going into hiding, two seconds into the future. I came here as soon as I found all the real evidence about all this, because I think you have the right to know the truth. I would have come sooner, but I needed the proof."

Romana fell silent. She stared at the Doctor. Now that she had told him the true reason of her presence here, she didn't know what else to say.

The Doctor looked back at her in fear… in horror… and utter revulsion.

He turned around and ran out of the house.

**Yes, Gallifrey is still there... Would have thought that was my idea? Not many I hope. There are still so many questions I'm going to answer, because Romana was not entirely truthful. The differences between Martha and the Doctor have to be settled... so many things are swimming around in head. Many more chapters are to come, so for now I leave you with this chapter. **

**Please leave me a review? I love them... need them as much as oxygen, actually! ;-)**


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